Many years ago, when I was still a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I took a trip with my eleven-year-old brother from Indiana to New York. The purpose of our journey was to witness the Hill Cumorah Pageant and visit the Sacred Grove, a site with special significance to the Latter-day Saint community as the location where Joseph Smith received the glorious First Vision of the Father and Son. (More …)
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The Power of God at the Sacred Grove: A Sacred Mormon Church History Site by karenrose
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Finding Christ in Mormonism by AllAboutMormons
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Rick Willoughby by admin
My Faith
The story, to be told correctly, needs some family background. My father was born in Independence, Missouri and was baptized a member of the church at eight years old but was not active as an adult. My father joined the USAF and was stationed at Burtonwood, England during the Korea War. My mother was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, and had three sons by my father before they were divorced. At age four I was raised in England with my mother and new stepfather. I knew nothing about my LDS heritage as I grew up and never came into contact with any members of the church.My mother was Catholic and my stepfather never mentioned religion but was a hard worker and was a good influence. If I asked him to do something that he thought I could do for myself he would say, “Use your own initiative”. We never went to church as a family but when I was very young I recall my mother telling me that there was “God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost”. She said I can pray to God the Father and ask for what I needed. I could understand asking for what I wanted, a young child knows how to do that. She then said that you have to have faith. I didn’t understand that, what’s faith? Fast forward to age twelve and I am having a difficult time at school such that I felt I could not talk to anybody. I lay quietly in bed, tears in my eyes, no-one to turn to. I remembered my mother’s words from years ago and so I prayed as best I could to “God the Father”. In my mind’s eye I pictured Him as a grandfather, a real person. I started the prayer something like this: “God, I don’t know if you exist but please help me…”. I don’t think that was very good faith but I did have my prayer answered.
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Jamison Davis by staff
The Foundation of My Testimony by Jamison R. Davis
I was born to “goodly” Jewish parents in 1960. The US was still in a period of post-war boom and young families were leaving the crowded conditions of New York City and its five boroughs for the suburbs. I spent the first 5 years of my life in the little Jewish enclave of Manhattan Beach on Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay and then in 1965 we moved to Westport Connecticut, a lovely artists colony. And home to a growing Jewish population.Like other Jewish boys of the Reformed branch of Judaism I went to synagogue during the high holidays and prepared for my Bar Mitzvah at age 13, the Jewish coming of age. I went to Hebrew school after regular school hours and enjoyed my studies. Early in my life I began to have a curiosity about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the people that wrote them. I began to wonder about the Messiah and why no one ever talked about Him.
From my earliest recollection I can recall believing in God, knowing that He loved me, that He answered the prayers of our family and that we should love and serve Him.
And from a very early age I began to be tutored by Him by many experiences and struggles in what I should make of my life.When I was a boy, sometime between ages 11-14, I remember being home sick one Saturday afternoon and looking for something to watch on TV. I came upon a scene that was electrifying. An elderly man with a small microphone attached to his eyeglasses was speaking in gravelly voice from a great podium in a large assembly. As he began to speak I began to feel a very strange feeling inside me. I changed the channel but never forgot that first exposure to the Lord’s prophets and the spirit of conference.
When I was 13 I also began middle school. The first middle I school I attended had some boys that used to bully me and so it was decided that I would attend another middle school across town and that was by the Lord’s design. It was there that I met the young man who would introduce me to the gospel. I rode the bus across town with other kids who for one reason or another needed to attend that school because it had ramps as well as stairs. One such boy was Kent Hickenlooper. Kent was born with Hemophilia and sometimes needed to be in a wheelchair when his joints were inflamed. Kent’s family moved from Utah and their roots go back to pioneer stock. One day Kent and I had a discussion about God. I don’t exactly recall why but I remember his answers were articulate and made me curious about his Mormon beliefs. I went home and looked up the Mormon Church in the Encyclopedia, which had a lengthy section on LDS beliefs. I asked him if there was a copy of the translation of the gold plates available (thinking it was like the Dead Sea scrolls – only available in libraries and such. He played along and said “oh they are very hard to come by but I think my father can get you one if you will take the time to read it.” And I looked forward to it and read it as soon as it arrived in my possession. As I did so many questions began to form in my mind.
I asked Kent some of these questions and he suggested I meet with two of his “friends” who do nothing for two years but answer people’s questions about the church. This began my discussions with the missionaries. As I continued to read I began to have my doubts about the truth of the Book of Mormon but another LDS boy in our school was very patient and kind and took the time to read with me over the phone Alma 32 and invited me to put that seed-planting challenge to a test. How grateful I am for that life-changing conversation. As I continued to study I began to feel a great love and hunger for the doctrines of the gospel but I was left with a monumental question as to the divinity of Jesus Christ. To further complicate matters, my investigation of the church was a source of great concern to my family. As I continued to study, to ponder, to feel the warmth and power of the doctrine and the love of my newfound LDS friends, I began to wonder more how could this not be true versus the other way around and yet the Savior and His divinity were a great stumbling block to me.
One night, during the discussion that used to be called “Our relationship to Christ” the Elders invited me to pray about the Savior and promised me if I did, If I was unafraid of the consequence of knowing that Jesus was the Christ, that if I asked as Moroni instructed, that the answer would come. I decided to put that to the test.
I retuned to my home and in the quiet and privacy of my room late one evening I knelt and began to vocalize my desires to God, first to thank him for the blessings I had received, for the new friends who loved me, for the missionaries who taught me such wonderful things then humbly I asked for a witness that Jesus was indeed the savior of the world, the awaited Messiah. As I began to pray my Star of David pendant given to me by my beloved Grandmother began to dangle in front of me causing me to reflect on my great heritage and what I was potentially asking which in my mind at the time refuted all I had grown up believing. Feeling the star was a distraction from my fervent prayer I closed my eyes and prayed ever more earnestly. Then summoning all the faith I could muster at that young age, I closed my prayer, mostly in a spirit of hope, in the name of Jesus Christ. Upon arising from my knees the spirit whispered to me with power and certainty that Jesus was the Christ, That God had heard and answered my prayer, That Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet and brought forth the restoration. That the Book of Mormon was absolutely true and that Spencer W. Kimball was God’s prophet. I was elated and I was terrified at the implication of what had taken place. I knew God in all His majesty had reached down from His Heaven and, like the brother of Jared, had touched me. And thus began my education of the things of the spirit.
This prayer began my hunger for reading everything I could about the restoration and the Savior and His church. My family allowed me to attend church but not seminary. I could attend Stake dances and MIA but I was not allowed to be baptized. For two years I attended my meetings, held callings, wrote music for youth conferences and road shows but was denied the blessings of baptism. I prayed and fasted and pleaded the Lord to soften the hearts of my parents to allow me to be baptized. My friends advanced from deacon to teacher to priest and I felt so very left behind.
Finally in 1977, at the age of 17, I could wait no longer. The denial of the blessings of baptism also meant I could not attend the magnificent newly built Washington Temple.
I pled with the Lord in a long tear-filled prayer under a mighty fir tree on the edge of our property. And then I waited in faith for a miracle.The miracle came on Memorial Day morning and while I cannot share the details of the experience, I will share the result, against all odds, two weeks later I was baptized and soon thereafter I attended with the other youth the beautiful Washington DC Temple. I felt I had finally come home.
It is my prayer that this story might attest that the God of Israel knows His children, He delights to hear and answer our prayers. He looks beyond our weakness and frailty and He knows the longings of our hearts.
God our Eternal Father loves His children, he hears and answers our prayers. He knows us individually and is involved in our daily iives in a myriad of ways. I testify that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son Jesus Christ as a Savior and redeemer for all mankind and through the atonement of Christ, we are made eligible to live with our families and loved ones in Eternity thorugh our faith and obedience to gospel laws and commandments.
I testfy that Our Heavenly Father in company with His beloved son appeared to the prophet Joseph and there in a lovely woodland setting in upstate New York ushered in this last dispensation when young men dream dreams and Elijah would return to turn our hearts to our fathers.
I testify that the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ is the word of God, translated by divine means and brought forth in our day by the prophet Joseph Smith.
I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God restored to the Earth for a new and final dispensation.
I bear witness that there are living prophets and Apostles and that President Gordon B. Hinckley is the Lord’s prophet today.
And I testify that all who seek a witness of the truth as to things of which I have here testified need only ask sincerely in prayer and our Heavenly Father will answer that prayer through a unique feeling of peace, joy and serenity felt in the heart and mind of any who ask in faith.
I offer this testimony with the hope that it might invite others, and most especially those from the house of Judah, to come unto Christ, the holy one of Israel and to
his restored gospel and do so in the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.June 2005
Darien, CTAbout the author
Jim Davis was born in Brooklyn New York and was raised in Connecticut. He was a convert to the Church at age 15 from the Jewish faith.
From an early age Brother Davis developed a love for music and by the time he was 18 had written over a hundred songs and was on his way to a promising career as a song writer and recording artist.
After high school Brother Davis attended Ricks College, now BYU Idaho, and there formed a band called Davis & Holmes in which he began writing and recording LDS popular music. He served a mission in the England Manchester Mission and there wrote and directed the LDS missionary music group “The Ambassadors” which toured, recorded an album and was featured on television and radio. Upon his return from England, Brother Davis was signed to Embryo Records where he recorded two albums of his music in partnership with LDS composer Lex de Azevedo. As partners Brother Davis and Lex De Azevedo also created the first LDS motion picture shown in theaters called A Field So White. After completing
“A Field So White” Brother Davis shifted his musical pursuits to the advertising business writing music for commercials and the popular daytime drama As The World Turns.Brother Davis continued in the advertising business for the next 20 years and was one of the early pioneers of Internet Advertising. He has remained heavily involved in developing new means of leveraging emerging media to foster and maintain relationships between consumers and brands such as The Walt Disney Company, Philips, HP, Pepsi and Unilever.
Brother Davis has served as a gospel doctrine teacher, an institute instructor, bishop’s counselor, ward mission leader, stake mission president’s counselor and as a councilor to three full-time mission presidents. He currently serves as Special Representative for Public Affairs for the Church’s Public Affairs Department and a family history consultant.
He married Christie Kinkead and they are the parents of four children.
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I Testify of Tears and Donuts by staff
Miracles have long been misunderstood to be a parting of seas, or the booming voice of an omniscient deity. The scriptures are a source of many such miracles, but not all miracles are so apparent in the lives of contemporary Latter-day Saints. I testify of the smaller miracles; the workings of our beloved Heavenly Father that prove He is all around us. I testify that the smaller miracles, the personal witnesses that only mean something to us individually are the ones that are most important.As a daughter of an alcoholic and abusive father, I’ve seen my share of horrors in this life. The greatest of all was my loss of my ability to cry. I stopped believing in sensitivity, and being conscious enough of my own feelings to weep. My defense mechanism cost me dearly, and I soon began to be swept away in a life that I could only perceive as a tragedy. I could not feel God’s embrace when I needed it most, and I tried to fill my void in any way I possibly could. It led me down a path of promiscuity and self abuse. I needed a change in my life, but I had no idea where to turn.
I testify of donuts; of Heavenly Father’s ability to know even our basest desires, and to use them to find us. I was invited to come to church with a Baptist friend of mine when I was a freshman in high school. At first I declined, until she countered with the free donuts they always had with their morning services. So began my spiritual quest for peace.
I testify of tears; a gift from our Father in Heaven, they signal to us when He is nearest. As I began to attend the Baptist services, I realized that their services were lacking something I needed. Something I craved. Unfortunately, my search wasn’t over, but I was out of places to go. I had only ever known Protestant and Catholic Christianity. Neither felt complete, and I mourned that realization for many weeks. I willingly shed the first tears I had cried in years, and I knew my God was with me. I knew He would guide me to what I was searching for, which was the first of many miracles I would experience. Hold on, the Spirit pleaded with me, and I went quietly.
I testify that Christ lives, and because he suffered for all of us, we have His Spirit to be with us. His Spirit led me down a path that I never would have found on my own. I met the first LDS members I had ever seen, and they were the most remarkable and peculiar people. They didn’t swear. They didn’t drink caffeine. They were kind, considerate, and generous. Love radiated from their actions and countenances that touched the marrow of my bones, the void in my soul. They had what I needed, whatever it was, and I knew I needed to find out more.
I testify that actions speak louder than words. I was bombarded with words as I attempted to find out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Words from my pastor and Sunday school teacher, words from my Baptist friends, from my LDS friends. Words from all sides made it hard for me to even think. But what spoke louder than everything else was the openness, the kind-hearted spirit that the Saints extended to an outsider like me. I felt accepted I had gotten past a boundary with these people that I hadn’t gotten through with the Baptists in the months I had been with them. I didn’t understand why. I only knew that I was getting a message that I couldn’t accept. Mormonism was growing on me, and if there was anything I had learned, being a Mormon was not an easy thing to be.
I testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Christ, and that His Spirit presides over their meetings. I attended a Sunday service in an LDS church in March of 2006, and for once I was not a bystander. The Spirit finally touched me! I cried tears of joy that I recognized the second they touched my face. “I’m home! I belong HERE, and I’m never going to leave!” Before I heard talks from any of the speakers, before I learned anything about the Book of Mormon, about LDS doctrine, I knew without a doubt that the church would be my home all the days of my life.
I testify that baptism is a miracle, and that baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a covenant for all eternity. I testify that because of my baptism, I was clean for the first time in my life. It has taken me my first year as a faithful member to accept that the scars I accumulated and created before my baptism were truly washed from me. I no longer need to look back and be turned to a pillar of salt. And because of this realization, I do what I can to teach others that they too can be clean.
I testify of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that “we don’t have to meet him to know he’s a prophet.” I have come to know him so completely because of my own trials. The persecution, a feeling that there MUST be something more than what the world has to offer, the added opposition of being a teenager; I have known those struggles. The faith despite terror and sacrifice; I have known it. And because a 14 year old boy said a prayer over a hundred years ago, thousands of people walked across a continent, and my life 3 generations later will never be the same! I love the Prophet Joseph Smith, and I look forward to that day when I might meet him on the other side of that veil.
I testify of the Scriptures, the Bible and The Book of Mormon. I have had my life touched by both. The Bible has demonstrated to me that to write is truly a miracle because of the hope that can last for thousands of years and countless generations. The Book of Mormon has espoused the loving voice of my Heavenly Father ever since I started reading it, and I know that it’s true.
Finally, I testify of prayer. Prayer might just be the biggest miracle of all, the most important miracle that man has ever known. Imagine; an all powerful, all knowing, all seeing deity cares enough about me to listen to me personally. He loves me enough to hear my plea, so that He can bless me with peace. All because he WANTS the chance to love a sinner like me. He’s joy is with our joy, and He only wants to take us there; to the place of joy we cannot fathom.
I testify of miracles, Brothers and Sisters, because without them, none of us would believe.
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How I gained my testimony by staff
I have always been a part of the Church, but have not always had a testimony. When I was little I relied on my mom and dad’s testimony to get me through; but as I grew and started making my own decisions in life I realized that I could never do it on my own or rely on my parents testimonies. I had always been taught that the Lord was waiting for me to ask Him for help, but had never really prayed or asked.One day while attending college and being on my own for the first time, I knew that I had a decision to make in whether I wanted to be a part of the Church or not. I desired more than anything to be happy in this life and to make the right decisions, and at that moment know without a doubt, if the Church was true.
I knelt down and prayed to my Heavenly Father to know if the Church was true and that I would be able to find the answer. I rose from my knees and opened my Book of Mormon and began reading Nephi I. I continued to read for the next few hours and then again read the next day after my classes. As I approached Mosiah 18:10, I had the most happy and loving feeling run through my body. I knew that what I was reading was true without a doubt. It reads, “Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you.” I knew without a doubt that that scripture was written just for me. I knew without a doubt, and have never questioned since, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.
The commandments that Heavenly Father has given us are simple. In order for us to have true happiness in this life and the next, we must follow all that the Savior and our Heavenly Father have asked of us.
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Holly Williams by staff
I was raised Southern Baptist. I remember picking up the tracts at the front of the church and reading them before my dad picked me and my sister up from church. One day, I wanted to be saved so I asked my Sunday School teacher what to do. She suggested that I read the Gospel of John. So I read the Gospel of John in my new NIV Bible that my dad had gotten me for either Christmas or Easter or just as a gift. I don’t remember. After I read the Gospel of John, I accepted the Lord Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Needless to say, I wasn’t really saved but at least I was on the right track.As the years went by, I went to a Nazarene church among others including but not limited to: United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, Pentecostal Churches, Free Methodist Church, and Baptist Churches. None of these satisfied me.
One day, I prayed to God for something and He answered my prayer in the negative. So I got really angry with God and I became an Atheist for about a week. After this, it took a lot of apologetics reading and stuff to get back to my faith in Christ. I had really damaged my faith by becoming an Atheist for a week.
I have had experience with Wicca (witchcraft) and the Occult in general. It was boyfriends who led me into this stuff. I practiced it for a year or two and then I got out of it and came back to Christianity.
One day while on a website, I saw a Catholic guy. I suddenly became interested in Catholicism. I asked him some questions and was instantly hooked on Catholicism and wanted to convert. So I went to my local priest and asked him to help me convert before Easter which was only about two weeks away. He gave me a book to read and we had discussions about Catholicism. Come Easter, I freaked out and did not become Catholic.
It wasn’t too much later that I entered RCIA. The Summer before RCIA, I decided I wanted my sins washed away at that moment and so I got baptized in a Pentecostal Church at the first available opportunity. Needless to say, they did not have the proper authority to baptize me and so my sins were not washed away even though I thought they were.
As I went through the RCIA process, I became more and more engrossed with Catholicism and I finally became confirmed as a Catholic on Easter 2005. This was after a period of some doubts about Catholicism though.
I was a devout Catholic at first but soon I found that I wasn’t satisfied. I tried to do what I could to stay Catholic but it just didn’t work. I found myself going back to Protestant churches trying to find the truth. I couldn’t find the truth anywhere!
Finally, I decided to look into the LDS Church. I started out by looking at htp://www.mormon.org and also http://www.lds.org. I chatted with the missionaries online and finally I visited a nearby ward in my area. I found the missionaries and asked them if they’d come and visit with me and teach me. I found the Mormon church to be very friendly and inviting.
So the missionaries started coming to my apartment to teach me. I already had a Book of Mormon which I had pretty much never read until then. The Mormons told me how to know whether or not the Book of Mormon was true and so I prayed about it and indeed, I felt that it was true. Before long, I got baptized three weeks later after the missionaries first visit. I was baptized in the wrong ward though and nobody knew it was the wrong ward because the boundaries had recently changed. I received the gift of the Holy Ghost a week after my baptism.
I soon fell away from the Mormon church unfortunately. This was because of my own selfish desires to sin. Finally, I came back and confessed my sins to the bishop. Much to my surprise, I was not punished but was only told not to offer prayers in public until I had dealt with my sins thoroughly. I am now back to being a Mormon again and I’m loving it!
–PaladinMormon02 20:16, 21 October 2007 (MDT)
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Harry Reid by staff
For me, the title of this…would better be Why I’m Glad I Believed.I was born and raised in Searchlight, Nevada, a mining town of about two hundred people. Mining was not the main industry in Searchlight when I grew up; the number-one business was prostitution. At one time in my youth there were thirteen separate bordellos in town.
I went to a two-room school, and most of the time one teacher taught all eight grades.
I thought we had one of the best homes in Searchlight. But on reflection, I realize that it had no hot water, only an outside toilet, and was heated by a wood stove.
During all the time I spent in Searchlight there was never a church or, as I remember, even a church service. So when I went away to high school in Henderson, some forty-five miles away, it was a real adjustment. I hitchhiked or obtained rides in other ways to and from Basic High School. I would stay with people during the week and go home on weekends.
My first boarding site in Henderson was with my father’s brother, Uncle Joe. His wife was Aunt Rae, who many in the family thought was a little strange because she was a Latter-day Saint.
Aunt Rae was very good to me. She was strict but fair. One thing she suggested was my going to something called seminary. A boy named Ron was nice to me and said he also went to seminary. I thought it unusual to go to class before school started, but because of Ron and Aunt Rae I agreed to try this thing called seminary.
The seminary instructor was named Marlan Walker. He was also a high-school Spanish teacher and, as I learned later, an LDS bishop. To say he was a good teacher is a gross understatement. He was mesmerizing. For the first time in my life, I heard the message of Jesus Christ.
In my high-school years, I took two years of Spanish from Marlan Walker as did my wife-to-be, Landra Gould. Marlan went out of his way to be kind to everyone, especially to me and my Jewish girlfriend, Landra. He set an example in kindness that was impressive.
I obtained an athletic scholarship to attend the College of Southern Utah, where I lived in a dormitory with two of my Nevada friends. It was a room for four, so we were assigned a roommate named Larry Adams, who was a Korean War veteran and a returned missionary. He always acted as a returned missionary should.
Because Landra’s parents did not want her to marry a non-Jew, we decided, following my sophomore year in college, to elope. Our former Spanish teacher, still a bishop, heard of our secret marriage plans and said he would save us the twenty-five dollars for a justice of the peace and would himself marry us, in his LDS chapel, no less.
After he married us, we two nineteen-year-olds went to Utah State University to complete our education. My brilliant wife sacrificed her remaining college to work so I could become a lawyer.
Landra rose before dawn each day to take a bus to Thiokol Chemical Company about fifty miles distant, where she worked to pay for my college education. The bus driver, Mr. McPherson, was a stake missionary. Because of his teaching and his patience, we were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints.
After more than forty years, Landra and I believe our joining the Church to be among the best decisions we ever made. We accepted the Church and a new life because of the power of example. Many contributed to the change, from Aunt Rae to Marlan Walker, from Larry Adams to the stake missionaries. They were effective because they lived their lives as shining representatives, even models, of the life of Jesus.
Our blessings are many. We have five children and soon will have twelve grandchildren. All five of our children have attended BYU, and all have been married in the temple. Each child has been a positive example for us.
After these many years I believe that the Church has been a steady, positive blueprint for my life. Without the direction of the Church, I would have been without a compass.
So you see, I am glad I believed.
This and other moving testimonials from rank-in-file and well-known members of The Church can be found in the remarkable new collection, Why I Believe.
Originally published LDS Living
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Douglas Parker Reid by staff
My Testimony of the Truthfulness of the Scriptures and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsMy wife and I are fifth generation Latter-day Saints, but although I love and respect my ancestors, I don’t consider my testimony as having come because I am emulating them or merely following in their footsteps. My knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has come into my own heart and soul in many powerful, personal ways. I feel a strong desire to share my testimony of this process in case it may help someone else who is searching in their own life to find truth and happiness through knowing what God wants them to do with their life.
As a young boy growing up in Utah (U.S.A.), I prayed many times to have the feeling of the Holy Ghost confirm to my heart that the LDS Church was true, or to hear the “still, small voice” and thus be able to stand in testimony meeting and bear testimony that I knew the Church was true. I didn’t seem to get the answer I was seeking, but I knew that living the gospel felt right, so I was disappointed but not disillusioned. I still lived the gospel in every way.
As a young college student at Brigham Young University, I finally began to understand what it meant to feel the confirming inspiration of the Holy Ghost as I read the Book of Mormon and pondered the experiences of Nephi more deeply than I had as a high school student. What an eye-opener! I could begin to feel the truths of the gospel and the truths found in the scriptures, and it was exciting for me. Many verses from each of the standard works—the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, made indelible impressions on my heart, mind, and soul as I read them. Each time I would read them I gained new insights and felt the truth of the words I was reading.
I have come to love each of the standard works, and to know that each of them is true, and that a loving Heavenly Father grants unto each of us as His children spiritual knowledge as we seek it with pure motives and as we allow seeds of truth to grow in our hearts. It makes so much sense that He would not make the truths of the gospel be so obvious or so readily available that thinking people would not have to yearn and struggle in some way to find those truths, since one of the most important reasons for this life is to learn to understand truth versus error in a way that makes our spiritual self more mature, so we can have greater faith than when we were innocent children.
I hope that people who use the Internet in their search for spiritual knowledge in their own life will go to the primary sources—the scriptures, including both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, and the Book of Mormon which is such a powerful witness of the mission of Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him; and personal prayer to Heavenly Father, who will guide their searching if they sincerely ask in faith. Why rely on the words of some who criticize the LDS Church? Why not find out for yourself through a deep and sincere study without letting someone else do your thinking for you? Many critics climb an intellectual ladder without understanding that God wants them to climb a spiritual ladder, and they get lost in intellectual arguments and entanglements just like Isaiah and the Apostle Paul prophesied that they would.
Nothing that I have read on the Internet (including some of the attempts by intellectuals to criticize the LDS Church) has made me doubt the truthfulness of the gospel, the reality that Jesus Christ lives and is our personal Savior, the divine calling of Joseph Smith, the truth of the Book of Mormon and of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel saddened that people could be led by critics to misunderstand if they don’t seek to sincerely find out for themselves, by humbly reading and prayerfully considering the Bible (preferably the King James Version if reading in English) and the Book of Mormon on their own. -
Connor Boyack by staff
I recently received an email from a visitor to my blog who is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the email, this person talked a little about the problems his church has been facing in recent years to keep people, especially youth, active in participation. Curious as to how The Church of Jesus Christ has so much success in cultivating the activity of its members, he asked:How do your ecclesiastic leaders encourage young people, such as yourself, to remain members? Why is the commitment in the LDS Church so much harder, yet significantly higher than other denominations?
My response is as follows.
1. Continuing Revelation
Modern revelation is a wonderful thing. In his wisdom and mercy, God has ordained prophets and apostles to guide His children. We are not left with only the Bible to guide us. Nephi taught:
Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written. (2 Nephi. 29:10)
God knows that the challenges we face today are quite different from those that the Israelites and early Christians faced. Any time He has been able to establish His church on the earth, He has called witnesses to testify to the people about what they see and hear from Him. So it is today. We are not left to interpret previous scripture in councils and committees, but instead are given prophets and apostles to give us new scripture for our day, guiding us back to God’s presence.
Elder Holland, one of the Apostles, said that “it is no trivial matter for this Church to declare to the world prophecy, seership, and revelation, but we do declare it. It is true light shining in a dark world…”
Much like a sitting body of water grows stagnant over time, so does old revelation begin to age. Like a river, revelation must continuously be running and streaming in to wash over us and carry us in its current back to God.
I testify that God has called such men in our day to be His special witnesses. We have a prophet on the earth, like unto Moses, Jacob, Isaiah, and the rest. His name is Gordon B. Hinckley.
2. Priesthood Power
And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. (Hebrews 5:4)
The priesthood of God is the power and authority to act in His name. Such an authority is not to be obtained by going to school, studying the scriptures, or simply going forth and performing acts in God’s name. In fact, we learn repeatedly in the scriptures how unlearned men were called to lead God’s people. In order to obtain the priesthood we must be called of God, as this scripture indicates.
How, then, does one obtain this calling of God? Our fifth Article of Faith declares:
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
Those who have the authority are the only ones who can bestow it, by the laying on of hands, on another. Joseph Smith, the first prophet in Christ’s latter-day Church, received such authority at the hands of angelic ministers. He received the Aaronic (or lower) priesthood from John the Baptist. Later, he received the Melchizedek (or higher) priesthood from Peter, James, and John. Being so called of God, the Prophet was then able to bestow this power upon others, and it has continued in His church until this day.
The priesthood, as I said earlier, is both the power and authority to act in God’s name. In 1842, the Prophet Joseph said:
It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of—a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?
With the power of God, miracles have been performed. Some are too sacred to share. Some easily testify of a God who knows us, cares about us, and wants us to be happy and prosperous.
I testify of the power of the priesthood. Holding the Melchizedek priesthood myself, I have acted in the name of God on several occasions. I have been able to bless several people with varying needs. It is a marvelous thing to act in God’s name and strive to live worthily of such a responsibility. I know that we have his priesthood here on earth today.
3. Covenants
We Latter-day Saints [/blog/the-way-of-the-covenant| are a covenant-making people]. In the ordinances of the gospel there exist several promises we make to God, for which He has promised us blessings in return. Such an active, participatory gospel cultivates personal responsibility and accountability in each of its members. We live up to the promises we make. We are assigned callings in our local congregation to help build up the kingdom. None of the leaders in our church are paid; everybody who serves does so voluntarily.
The scriptures are replete with examples of God’s people making covenants with him. These covenants can only be admistered by the priesthood, thus indicating the need for God’s official power to be restored as it has. A covenant is an official promise, and to be binding and official it must be administered by one who has the authority to do so. God has said:
…I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy.
For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me. (D&C 98:14-15)Indeed, to return to God’s presence one must make covenants with Him. Baptism, the sacrament, and other covenants allow us to make promises to our Heavenly Father. One does not renege on a promise to God—hence the desire Latter-day Saints have to be active and live up to such promises.
President Brigham Young taught:
Let me give you a definition in brief. Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell. (Discourses of Brigham Young [Deseret Book Co., 1941], p. 416.)
I testify that covenants are a crucial part of the gospel. They facilitate the progression in the gospel that is necessary to gain our eventual exaltation and return to God’s presence. Upon living up to them, we are blessed in abundance.
4. Holy Ghost
The Gift of the Holy Ghost is the promised companion reserved for those who are baptized. When one in authority lays his hands upon the recipients head, the gift of the Holy Ghost is given. Explaining the difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Prophet Joseph Smith said:
There is a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Cornelius received the Holy Ghost before he was baptized, which was the convincing power of God unto him of the truth of the Gospel, but he could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost until after he was baptized. Had he not taken this . . . ordinance upon him, the Holy Ghost which convinced him of the truth of God, would have left him. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 199)
The Holy Ghost serves multiple purposes. It helps us to know the truth of all things. It is also a comforter and a guide.
This special gift—reserved for those who enter Christ’s church by covenant—is the method by which we obtain daily divine help in treading the path back to God’s presence. Having this constant companion (if we live worthy of it) allows us to more easily discern between truth and error and know what we should do to fulfill the covenants we have made.
I testify that the gift of the Holy Ghost is real and powerful. Having received this gift, I have had occasion to use it repeatedly throughout my life. Through it, I feel God’s hand guiding me in my daily life. I feel His love and interest in my life. I treasure this gift immensely.
5. Comforting Doctrine
Our modern prophet has said:
Circumstances change, but our message does not change. We bear testimony to the world that the heavens have been opened, that God, our Eternal Father, and His Son, the risen Lord, have appeared and spoken. We offer our solemn witness that the priesthood has been restored with the keys and authority of eternal blessings.
—President Gordon B. Hinckley, “We Bear Testimony to the World”, October 2006When the circumstances of the world shift with society’s [/blog/moral-relativism| moral relativism], many people get caught in the rip current. Some of the other churches follow society’s trends and begin to adopt what becomes the “norm” in order to find more acceptance and adherence among their members. Some do it so as not to offend their members.
The message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remains constant. God personally visited Joseph Smith, and with the aid of angelic visitors restored the gospel to the earth in all its fulness. Along with this restoration came the priesthood, temples, and all ordinances and covenants necessary to provide the opportunity for exaltaton to all of God’s children.
These doctrines are comforting. They are palatable. I love knowing that my family and I can live together forever in God’s presence. I love knowing that God has a place to “rest his head”. I love that, since God loves all His children, He has provided a way whereby those who have already died may saved as well. I love knowing that God still speaks to man.
I testify that these doctrines are true, and that they are comforting. They attract people all over the world who are hungering and thirsting for them.
6. Letter from Heaven
Further illustrating the reassuring truth that God knows and loves each of us, He has provided patriarchs who, like their predecessors of old, can provide partiarchal blessings to worthy members of the Church.
President Ezra Taft Benson has taught that “a patriarchal blessing is the inspired and prophetic statement of your life’s mission together with blessings, cautions, and admonitions as the patriarch may be prompted to give.”
In times of uncertainty, tribulation, or indirection, my patriarchal blessing—a veritable letter from heaven—serves as a guide to remind me of my divine potential and foreordained mission. Reading it frequently helps me to make sure my priorities are aligned with what I should be doing in my life.
The Core
And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. (2 Nephi 25:26)
At the core of all these reasons I have listed is a burning testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. If all these other things I have previously mentioned were not part of the gospel, I still would participate and remain active because I have a knowledge that He directs this work, that He was resurrected and lives, and that He will come again to rule and reign on this earth. I know that He leads and guides the Church in our day through His chosen servants, and that He suffered for our sins, infirmities, and sicknesses.
Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. (Mormon 10:32-33)Why am I active in the gospel? Why do I come each week, and strive to obey God’s commandments every minute of every day?
I do it because Christ lives, and through His messengers He has instructed me that it’s what I need to do in order to return to my Father’s presence and inherit eternal glory. And that’s what I’m after. Nothing less will suffice.
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